Welcome to Texas justice: You might beat the rap, but you won't beat the ride.

Sunday, January 20, 2008

TYC hit on unbudgeted office expenditures

Grits commenters called this one months ago: The Dallas News reports today that the Texas Youth Commission spent $550,000 "meant for hiring new corrections officers on renovating and relocating offices – even though lawmakers turned down their request for such spending." ("Texas Youth Commission defied lawmakers, spend funds on new offices," Jan. 20).

181 comments:

Anonymous
said...

Grits, the next possible mishap will be the 5 to 6 new Crown Victoria's that Ms. Pope ordered or has spent already. This also was not approved money (budgeted)and was not requested through proper channels (fleet maintenance request). Lets see if the DMN will pick up on this one. Unfortunately Ms. Pope continues to justify her actions and makes excuses for what we call "Gross fiscal mismanagement". This so called lapsed money could have been used on advertisement for new JCO's, radio, print. But we struggle daily to get this money for this purpose.

Ironically, 'gross fiscal mismanagement' is the justification for placing an agency into conservatorship. There was no 'gross fiscal mismanagement' at TYC until Acting ED Pope rode was appointed/anointed.

Those are our tax dollars being wasted folks.

I bet any of us can think of 100 different ways that money could have been used productively at TYC.

All I can say is...It is about time! All of the things that TYC needed, a new car, furniture, and carpet was not on the list! I have worked in the accounting department of TYC and I can not believe that this went on for so long. Did anyone call the hotline and turn this in??? She should be made to pay all of this money back to the state! I have seen a time that a taxable amount of $2.20 had to be paid back from a vendor so how was she able to get by with this????? I guess the "educated white women" decided to let her hang herself!

9:18 I want to know more about the "Girls rule". I have worked at GNS and would love nothing more than to see them place someone with brains and class in the superintendent position. Not to mention the fact that spelling and grammar should enter into this somewhere. After all, it is a public office.

It makes me wonder just what the other folks who were approached to be conservator wanted and were denied prior to Nedelkoff. It must not have been removing Pope because Nedelkoff is effectively doing it.

It amazes me that we were placed under conservatorship for "gross fiscal mismanagement," and while under conservatorship, the agency engages in "gross fiscal mismanagement." This is Elmer ugly.

But I have to say I feel better today knowing Richard Nedelkoff is riding the horse and getting this agency in order. Nedelkoff is a class act and we owe it to him to work hard, stay focused, and remove ourselves from this shady past.

They all SUCK. Every TYC facility is out of control. Anybody that say's different, go visit one and each dorm without giving notice.

Have Mr. Needledick go exploring without notice or undercover. Start with that incompetent fool at Mart Wanda King. She is a nice lady, but what stupid, Ass---- would put a floundering idiot like that in such a position. She's the type that needs to be on the dorm. Who's running this BS anyway.

You all are gonna be out of jobs soon. Look at those administrative replacements Needledick is considering. Thay are nothing but clones of the PAST!!!!!!! WAKE-UP you fools in Central Office and beyond. UnF------ Increditable!!

Also an astounding quote from Madden regarding the legislature not being told they would have difficulty filling JCO positions. Are they really that clueless in the criminal justice committees in the legislature? This is no big surprise, this has been the state of the agency and TDCJ for years. Pony up and spend some money, everyone in TYC is underpaid, but JCO's in particular need to be paid more money.

Idiot, after idiot, after idiot. When is it going to end? Mr. Nedelkaump will leave before this indescribable mess of mismanagement, misappropriation, misinterpretation, and malfeasance is ever rectified. He has no support. They are just playing with him to see what he will do. No politicain is going to allow him to correct this mess. They want the private contracts, kick-backs, back-scratchers, scumbags. It's all about the money! And TYC and the state isn't going to give the cash to you staff.

Perry can't even pick a winner to endorse to slide in as Presadentay'. This what happens when you put people with no common sense in positions of leadership. IDIOT's

Maybe he will stop all of these uniform monies that is wasted and can be spent elsewhere for betterment, such as better wages for JCO's. Raise the pay and you will get the new hires. Might even get them to STAY once they are hired. I have heard that several of the facilities have stopped wearing the pope shirts already. Wish all of the units had the balls to throw down those hideous shirts! Hey conservator send us an email to trash them and see how many people you would make happy!

Right on 9:18! Everyone know Gwan spent years screwing Chester trying to make a name foe herself. I guess after he left she decided to switch teams and take on the "Girls Rule" mantality. Well obviously it worked. Everyone knows she doesn't have what it takes, unless being a bitch is the on;y qualification these days. She and Pope both had that down to a tee.

I hope the the new conservator and see through the shit she's spitting out so maybe Gainsville will has a chance before she royaly stinks it up.

9:37...Bless your heart, as long long as Gwan is in there you better keep dreaming. Although she has a educational background, I don't think she's ever heard the term "If you don't use it, you lose it," because her's is gone. Spelling and grammar at GNS I am sure has turned to Ebonics 101. If you've read any of Pope's news commentary you will realize it is not "Girl's Rule" that would take education, intelligence, and cooth, but with these two in charge it has turned into "Getto Girls Rule." They are giving educated black people a bad rap.

You said it 1:12. You know how on the news they always pick the uneducated white trash, trailer trash if you will, to interview making them out to be the "average Texan," well I hope everyone realizes these two "Ghetto Girls" are not average either.

Black, white, male, or female, I certainly don't want anyone thinking they are the impidemy of TYC. They are just all we have right now.

Come on conservator reinstate our good leaders and replace trash like this before TYC explodes and there is nothing left!

When she got this job, this lady thought her ship had finally come in. She believed that agency resources belonged to her personally-- that it was her prerogative to spend , hire, and fire upon whim.

Dope's spending is so extravant, it would make even Imelda Marcos blush!

Ironically, she is a good role model in this narrow sense: she shows us that despite possessing the traits of mediocrity, narcissism, and lack of foresight, someone can still become the executive director of a state agency. Schoolchildren, let that be a lesson to you. Why strive for an "A" when even a "C+" can get you a nice Crown Vic and a plush office chair. (Hell, my car ain't even worth $1300).

And those legislators have been too easy on her. The DMN provides, "...at best, [the expenditures]..were an inappropriate use of funds...at worst, an affront to legislative authority." No, estimable legislators, you are mistaken. At worst, her expenditures amount to "gross fiscal mismanagement" of taxpayer resources, as previous commenters have already pointed out. Her furnishings are more important than her staffers' livelihoods.

So, D'ope has defied a court when she allowed Bronco Billy to ignore the order to restrict the use of pepper spray, and she has "affronted" legislative authority with these expenditures. That's two branches already. What's her next move? Stick her tongue out at the governor?

So D'ope, recruit your space planner to help you move your ass out! And take your cronies with you. [I hope you people didn't buy any big houses or anything].

Ms. Pope requests allocation of 47 Woopee Cushions for the main conference room. Additionally, these important items will be placed under each chair. Please wire cushions to floor plates as specified with electronic switches placed for Ms. Pope to manipulate as necessary. These items are top priority to handle unrully CO staff from speaking without her permission.

Additionally, Please place the same in the conference room at Mart II, ya and I for her friend Wanda King. Ms. King has asked for extra large cushions for herself and others that may need them.....OOp's Woopee!!!!!!!

This is only the beginning. What about the two cars that Ms. Pope totaled, other incidental cost in the moving people and offices(take a look at the Space Planner???), travel expenditures including out of state travel, and don't forgot about all the new staff that have been hired in CO. There is way more to this story and hopefully some reporter will followup on it. It appears to be the only way information gets out and changes happen.

This is not news to me. The fiscal mismanagement started as soon as TDCJ arrived. All you have to do is review the salaries given to the "transplants."

There was no salary administration or allowing an individual to grow in their given positions.

"Oh, you are coming over from TDCJ you are worh more than the previous incumbent. It did not matter if the previous incumbent had been in their position for 15 plus years, qualifications, or experience.

Scott do an open record on the salary administration for TDCJ's transplants and you will see "gross fiscal mismanagement" at new levels.

So the carpet and furniture is the "cheap" part of their fiscal mismanagement.

Kudos to the DMN and Grits for bringing another ray of hope to an otherwise hopeless situation. Let's keep the momentum going and take a look at the illegal contracts awarded to consultants and TDCJ cronies.

Well lets see, we could start with all these ridiculous 'made-up positions' they have been calling regional. GIVE ME A BREAK! These new regional staff do not even know what the heck they are suppose to do.

They made Waterlilly a regional so he could valet park dA'p0pe's car(s). Was it really necessary to pay him extra to do that?

Gross fiscal mismanagement: keeping Sheffield open with only 30 or less students there? CRAZY!

And lets not forget about the money being wasted on travel expenses by the so call Regional personnel. They created all these positions without having the necessary means to support them. Now all these are running claiming mileage or renting cars.

Also it seems like TYC is the biggest Blackberry user in Texas. Who in TYC does not have a Blackberry? I ask because it seems more people have them than not. Now that is Gross fiscal mismanagement?

Jerome Parsee has got a new state job at the Waco campus of TSTC. He has overcome all of the lies told about him while he was Superintendent at the Marlin TYC unit. Even the false charges brought by that lying Texas Ranger Matt Cawthon were dropped by the Falls County DA. Jerome Parsee is a good man and he deserves to have his good name cleared of any wrong doing. All of the people who said bad things about Jerome lied about him. Now people are calling TSTC and lying about Jerome. I worked closely with him every day while he was at Marlin and I can tell you he was a good man and never did any of the bad things people have said about him.

That's good to hear about Jerome. That was a dark day seeing him getting cuffed and shoved by that redneck Falls County Deputy. That was all staged, and we all knew it. I'm glad those charges were dropped.

I would have to agree that Jerome's arrest was a publicity ploy to make the ones taking over TYC look as if they were really dealing with the Bad TYC Staff. Whats sad is we have allowed under-qualified wannabe's to assume leadership roles as Superintendents, Assistants, and yes Regional Directors. Look at who appointed these wannabe's and ask your self this question, "would you promote em"?Heck, Paul is now acting Deputy Director over Residential Services. I have hope in Nedelkoff but the jury is still out depending on what he does with these appointments.

You are right, about staging Jerome's arrest. How else would the news know to be there at the time of his arrest. I work in CO and I know. It is simple Hurley alerted the news. These people have no shame. Kimbro, you should be proud of yourself.

As much as I dislike and have disdain for d'Pope, please let's leave the nasty comments out; it lowers us to her level!

She has grossly mismanaged TYC and we have been declaring this for several months with no ear within shot! We have been ignored and as a result we are now suffering another shameful and humiliating consequence of her actions. She appointed people based on how they bowed down to her and it's been a disaster. People like Ayo, Wallace Brown and their secretary who have shoved in our faces and the fact that d'Pope ruled until it become naseating and totally annoying. These kinds of employees create and habor hostile work environments. But Nedelkoff is cleaning house we need not worry!

We need to take a step back and give him our full support. The man will not always make the right decision nor is he perfect, but folks it's a welcome sight and he seems to be on the right track. I for one will afford him the benefit of the doubt. At least he knows we are in the business of rehabilitating youth and not warehousing them! Let him do the dirty laundry and clean our house. We'll just hand him the tools he needs. Just be sure they are the correct tools! We all have dirty linen that needs cleaning. Just don't make it dirtier than it really is! The rest will take care of itself.

The two budget analyst that left are Cindy G and Joe Salinas. They got tired of of seeing Janie Durante and Yolanda Hall getting a raise every 6 months while they work their butts off for years and got no where. Cindy interviewed for a higher paying position. Robin decided to bring in an outsider and have Cindy/Joe train that new person.

Robin was kept on by Pope only because she knew where the money was being used for. Tell US Robin why didn't you STOP all this illegal purchases? Did you at least question them? Or are you that white ass PHD they are always refering to? They need to throw you out at the same day they get rid of the Pope.

I said from the start none of the guilty would have to pay the price at TYC and it looks like I am right on the target! All of the management perverts will band together and continue to cover for eachother while the people who work with the kids get hammered. I have lived in Marlin all my life and I know all about Jerome Parsee. I remember when he got caught high on drugs wearing nothing but his BVDs wandering around the streets of Marlin. It got covered up because he was the head man at the prison. I cannot believe he is now teaching school and is around young people again. I guess our lazy lady DA is too busy with the family drug business to do her job and let the case slide. Not too proud to be from Marlin these days!

If the employees that were walked off unfairly and unjustly were rehired (if they even want to come back), the staff shortage would almost disappear. The problem now is staff are leaving for fear of being out of a job for whatever is the whim of the day.

I was / am just amazed at the staff shortage at GNS and they continue to walk them off the site for really idiotic reasons. There is a staff on one dorm that was walked off for a simple restraint. The investigation is into it's 4th or 5th month. My understanding is with full pay. Surely they could have utilized this staff member somewhere.

While they need to be cleaned out at the top, they need reassurance at the bottom or it's going to continue to bleed.

To find out that Pope ordered herself overly nice things for her office while JCO's were having to purchase black pants and shoes during the holidays and while overtime was suspended (if I remember right) makes me nauseous.

A couple of comments on the excuse that extra money exists from not hiring 500 JCO's. If there are not new JCO's, someone has to work overtime to cover the labor shortage. I realize that overtime is banked but sometime down the line it has to either be paid at the overtime rate either with money or some other staffer working overtime to cover that overtime when the staffer takes the time off. In other words, there is no excess monies to spend but an unfunded liability which probably costs more than the monies allocated for those 500 JCO's.

As to any excess funds carried over from the previous biennium, given the increased expenditures of the new administration, I doubt those monies existed. When I left last June, the word from Finance was that there was no additional monies even to pay down the JCO overtime, which was the traditional usage of excess biennium funds.

I thought the JCO's got their overtime payments reinstated and paid in December. I know I read it on here some time ago. But even if that were the case, making JCO's and the others pay for their black pants was a wrong move. And even at that, they were not allowed to wear black jeans? So just out of curiousty, what exactly did they wear?

I'd like to add a couple more pieces to the gross fiscal mismanagement puzzle. On the topic of TDCJ implants with fat salaries, I'd like to point out that none of these people had to compete for their positions. They were "appointed", which apparently can be done because we are under conservatorship.

Also under fiscal mismanagement, I'd like to throw in the big reorganization that took place last summer and fall. Every department in CO was reorganized at DPope's request and according to her idea of how things needed to be run. In that reorganization there were many, many positions that were reclassified (upward, of course) and there were many new positions added at high classifications (B12 and up, sometimes WAY up). I understand that someone made an open records request to learn about merit increases that were given in the past several months. They should have asked (and still should ask) to see how the reorganizations affected salaries within each department. Ask for a list of classifications and salaries before and after the CO reorg. They will see how both increased. No one in the field was reclassed, only CO.

It doesn't nullify the fact that Pope not only got into the states pocket, but the JCO's who could least afford it, esp. at the holidays. Even though TYC stated it was coming, it was still a I'll believe it when I see it situation.

I think what I resented most is TYC thinking I'm stupid. They started paying overtime as they knew they were about to walk off -fire tons of staff and there would be lots of staff not answering their phone. The carrot was dangled and most everyone started working overtime which meant more expense for gas as you rarely had a day off, and they pulled that no money crapola.

Most aren't even wearing the black pants and shoes anymore. Lasted less than 90 days. TYC should issue a ' we're sorry Pope is an idiot' check for those expenses or a day off with pay.

If Gwan has an education background it's news to me. I tried to help her through her College Algebra, and because that was work she went to lying on her back and doing things the old fashioned way. And it wasn't just for Chester, ask the people at Corsicana about Rosie, you'll get an earful.

I am actully surprised that the woman actually completed a degree, from a non mail order mill.

For those who believe that overtime pay in December means that you will be receiving overtime pay on August 1, 2008, you need to rethink that. At some point those funds for the 500 JCO's who were not hired is going to run out, particularly when it is used for purposes other than overtime pay. My guess is that if it were used for only overtime pay, it would run out in nine to ten months so overtime money would have to come from somewhere else or the banking of overtime will begin again until new monies are available in September, 2008.

Of course, if the monies were used for their intended use- additional JCO's - overtime and over working of staff would be minimal.

Was a Persian rug actually bought? If it were a real Persian rug, it would be very difficult to hide the cost of somehing so expensive.

The Gov. brings in the white man and makes all the prior unqualified blacks look like fools. Now this makes all black people look like no goods. Thanks Gov. Good Hair for helping us black folks back in our place.

2:29 Please don't make this issue a racial debate! The fact is that D. Pope has mismanaged her position as D.E. of TYC. It wouldn't matter if she was black, white or purple. Stop finding ridiculous reasons to bring in the "race" card. Just because someone of a specific race does something stupid the entire race doesn't suffer for it! Remember that today is MLK day. You are always the best person that you choose to be no matter what color you skin is.

D'Pope came to TYC preaching accountability, telling everyone that TYC was a mess and that the employees were in denial.

Pope be honest with yourself, if that is possible and admit that you have nearly ruined TYC. Forget about the furniture, the carpet and go home home. You have nothing to offer TYC and you never did. So, quit living in a state of denial and do something honorable for a change.

PS Don't forget to take your overpaid bullies with you, such Wood, Neel, Marty, and others with you. They too have nothing to offer and were given.....given jobs that they do not deserve or are qualified for.

I worked in CO and always heard Budget talking about we didn't have the money, no one would listen to Cindy and Joe. Find out how much travel money was spent on the Tour of the agency.......it was outrageous. Lots of merit money and promotions to TDCJ HR people as well.......not to mention the new hires with no postings ever made all they would tell HR to do is hurry up and attach the "conservator letter" apparently this is how they can get away with not posting a job. New hires would show up at HR and say "I am here as a new hire" HR did not have any paperwork or know who they were working for but believe me they were from TDCJ or a "buddy" of Steve Foster or someone in Exec. There is alot more no one knows just look for the people that left if you want to know. Especially the HR people that left.......the only reason the old HR people are still there is they haven't found a job yet but believe me they are looking....poor things they are all competing for the same jobs.

Well speaking of HR. All Wood has done is hire her fiends since she came onboard. Just look around it is happening here in CO and in the HRA positions as well.

They all have something in common. They are all clueless on how TYC do things. So, they go around saying, " well in TDCJ we did it this way." The last time I check TDCJ had nearly 4,000 correctional vacancies. The kind of example that we want emulate? Needless to say Wood and her people offer little to nothing.

On the mean time HR lost countless tenure employees since Wood's arrival. See a common denominator? She will stab you just like she did Young.

On the meant time, TYC still has over 500 vacancies. It is time for the spotlight to be on Wood. It won't be long before it is discovered that she should have never been placed in charge. Can hide behind Pope any longer. She can go along with Pope, Neel, etc.

Apparently, Ms. Pope was accountable to no one!!! Did our legislators just give her a blank check book? As a taxpayer, I am appalled by this revelation of extravagant spending on her office -- and a dozen other things. Those State of the Agency meetings were ridiculous. About 30 CO staff flew in a commerical airliner. How did this benefit the youth of Texas? What are the salaries of the TDCJ staff as compared to those who were in the same position in TYC? This woman has padded the pocketbooks of herself and many others and has done nothing for our youth.

Lapse money??? How far will that go when you are spending as stated below (this was posted on the TYC website)?

"The estimated total cost of TYC’s October and November overtime is $1.4 million spread among employees who worked the extra time across the state. Funding for the payment of overtime will come from money budgeted for staff positions that are currently vacant."

How much money was budgeted for 500 new JCO staff -- a couple of billion? It appears to me that the money has already been spent.

Many gross fiscal atrocities have been committed by d'Pope and her cronies. Who will make them accountable and who will pursue legal action? Elmer better run if he authorized any of her needless spending.

Just when you think it can't get any worse at TYC it always does! No way 500 people are all going to be stupid enough to go to work for TYC. Oh I forgot the money to pay them has been spent so never mind. Maybe jobs at TYC can be out sourced to India or Pakistan. TYC is gut shot! For those of you who are not familiar with the term "Gut Shot" it alludes to a slow painful death.

Around and around it goes; where it stops nobody knows. I wonder if there are any ties to the contractors who did the work for Pope. There is a lot of money to follow at TYC these days. Keep your eye on the money and forget the BS distractions. This is all about money going into the right pockets. This is and never has been about the TYC youth; it is all about the dollar! Helping the TYC youth was used as a scam to get the money flowing. Money, money, money, it is all about the money from day one. How many lives have been screwed up so a few people could make a pile of cash? I hope all the dollar whores are cursed along with their spawn. May the pain and suffering they have caused come back to them and their families sevenfold. So might it be.

10:24 We don’t know much except that all the YRS positions posted on 10/02/07 have not been filled. They didn’t hold the last of the interviews until a few days before or after Christmas and still no word on who they selected of if they have. If memory serves, October was about the time word came down to stop hiring so many TDCJ transplants so I guess they were caught off guard and had to look within.

Wood did the dirty work for the Pope...Eric knew why she was brought in anyway...Wood cannot run HR by herself and Eric would run circles around her....nobody wants to work for her whining ass anyway that's why they all left. That crazy ass Matthew person has no idea either, so what if he has worked in HR for years he cannot stay focused for more than 1 hour so what good is he? I have heard the new people they hired did not get any training and they were thrown into their position. I am sure they miss Reinaldo, Lara and Amy and haven't realized how much they miss Diane because she did all the teacher stuff. Yea Pat and Paul are still there but they are so burned out and TIRED. Good Luck TYC you need it.

But what do you know about Mary Strong? She seems solid, but with no applicable background. The YRS issue was central to all the reform debate. I'm surprised there has not been more scrutiny on how that devision is shaping up.

The Youth Rights Division was budgeted enough to more than double in size. I know people who applied, but have not heard anything. I don't know what they really do. The kids at my facility don't know either. I think they just process complaints and document that, but thats all.

Young was asked to resign by D. Pope as a result of an internal audit report on leave accounting that he requested back in FY07. The results of the audit indicated that local management was not holding frontline supervisors accountable for processing and verifying JCO time sheets. It was the results of the audit that gave D. Pope the opportunity to stop OT payment back in October. It was stated that due to his lack of oversight JCO may be falsifying their time sheets with regards to overtime; this was quickly proven to be false. He also pointed to executive management for their failure to obtain salary adjustment authority for the Case Worker career ladder he designed. He was left out of the LBB process during the legislative session and the Finance department failed to present the language to the legislature.

The sins of a few have turned TYC into a huge mess that may never dig itself out of the toilet. Not that this is news to any of you. I recently left good ol' Sheffield Boot Camp, which is closing, although why they are still lying to the media, idk. They already announced it to the staff.... The leaders in place at the majority of the facilities are absolute morons. I left many good people behind and I wish them all the best. They are stuck in a bad position. most of them need the jobs they have, but they are going to be out of luck very soon. It is not just about the kids. There are decent people working their asses off everyday for these ungrateful little brats and now they won't even be able to feed their own children...the one's who aren't locked up for breaking the law. I can't stand most of the administration and Wallace Brown is a big pimple on TYC's ass. He was too concerned about which military insignia we should be wearing or what kind and how our hats should be worn. News flash... SBC is not the F***ing military and when you don't even have enough staff to keep us safely staffed and prevent us from getting our assess kicked, we DO NOT CARE about our stupid uniforms... good riddance.

You all are out of line, Period!!!!Nothing has changed, will change or could change until those that have the forsight and power can wipe the slate clean and start all over. This agency is nothing but one internal mess after another, it's one chase after the last internal mess for a hurried fix. It piles up people. It will never be dug out from. Face it TYC is run by fools and can't stop the fisical mismanagement. This agency needs to be disbanded and eliminated. Then it has to be effectively rebuilt and modernized with programming that fits offender classes and seperates them accordingly for specific treatment programming. What part of that do you all not understand. What a D--- Soap Opera!

You all are out of line, Period!!!!Nothing has changed, will change or could change until those that have the forsight and power can wipe the slate clean and start all over. This agency is nothing but one internal mess after another, it's one chase after the last internal mess for a hurried fix. It piles up people. It will never be dug out from. Face it TYC is run by fools and can't stop the fisical mismanagement. This agency needs to be disbanded and eliminated. Then it has to be effectively rebuilt and modernized with programming that fits offender classes and seperates them accordingly for specific treatment programming. What part of that do you all not understand. What a D--- Soap Opera!

If the Pope is on her wait out, does that mean the idiots she put in place as a super and asst. super in Mart are on their way out,too. We can only hope that Mr. Nedelkoff will see thru their ignorance of running a TYC and replace them. If we thought morale was low before, it's hit the lowest of lows now here at Mart. JCO's are overworked and underpaid. With NO way to hold the kids accoutatable at TYC for their actions, the kids run this agency. They have spent all this money to LOOK GOOD in Austin and the facilities have good to crap. If this seems harsh, walk onto any facility at any time unannounce and see first hand what we deal with every day. Anybody can put on a dog-n-pony show with a little fore warning.

Common sense people, common sense. Reading this blog spot some of us can easily see the reasons as to the plight of this agency. One major problem is politics the other is incompetence based on those politics. Yes, there will be politics in any venue such as this but the elimination of it should be focused on and paramount. Removing the head of the snake will bring about that change. When the Head, (CO) has no idea what needs are appropriate for a particular facility and they then focus on each facility working the same; basically telling administrators how to run and do things, otherwise known as a one size fits all. This is a recipe for disaster as history has shown. However, because we have "Politicians" in this agency as all others,(people that are concerned for their own well being)the agency as many others will fail. History proves it.

Field administrators, managers, caseworkers follow your heart, your common sense, do what you need to do to care or discipline the youth (legally). Run your facility as best you see fit. Use what works in your facility. The HELL with Central Office. Step up people fix this yourselves. Take charge of your facility. If you have a truely incompetent and provable screwed up manager or administrator document it and run them out of town. You have rights people. Beleive me you do have rights in state employment. Take this mess by the horns and twist it around, squash it like a bug. This is your agency and the taxpayers not central offices, not the governors, or any body elses. You have the power to do what it takes. Impower yourselves staff. Don't worry about your job, your pay or being fired. If you do what you need to do legally and in good faith no administrator or manager can fault you. If they do then I guess they will need an attorney not you. Turn the tables people.

Actually, they don’t have any rights anymore. The new “at-will” status changed that. They only have safety if they are fired due to membership in a protected class: disability, gender, and yadi, yadi. And, of course, CO would never give someone’s race as a reason for displeasure with that person or their termination.

I’m wondering where all the money went for recruitment and advertising. Of course they can’t hire new JCO’s. Unless a potential employee just moved to the area from a different planet, they know what a nightmare TYC has become! AND, if they were from a different place, or planet, they would never even be aware that positions were available because CO stopped advertising in facility locales.

The abuse of JCO’s, overtime, and JCO’s overtime at the units really bothers me. I worked (NOT as a JCO) at one of the facilities and I saw constant abuse of overtime reporting by the staff. HOWEVER, It was NOT the JCO’s doing the abuse. It was they that were being abused. Their time cards were constantly being modified to reduce the amount of overtime claimed. Also, they were not documented as working and were required not to claim that they were working when they were doing pass down.

Illegal? Yes, but this crew doesn’t care about state laws much less federal laws.

Hell, I guess since DaPope didn’t try to find, and thus couldn’t find, new field staff she had to do something with the funds.

"At Will" means you better keep your mouth shut and do as you are told or get fired. If you think it might land you in jail then refuse to do it and look for another job. If any of you at TYC had any snap you would be looking for a new job now! Stop whining and get some back bone, walk out on the scum bags after you score that new job. If all the TYC staff walked out the state government would be begging you to come back but you TYC folks cannot work together. Good Luck because you all will need it.

"Some of you are snakes, sharks, barracudas." That's what CO was told today, by none other than Pope Elmer.

"I will find you and deal with you."

To that, this: "Find the snake in my pants or my husbands pants (if you dare) Pope because ole' Elmer has no oysters to hang with this momentum. Elmer certainly has no snake to speak of because it's obviously hidden in your jungle. As far as the "barracuda" - we dealt with Bronco Billy just fine.

As far as the shark comment - you are a shark with no teeth so you're just bumping your gums old lady. It's time to go. Move on.

It is desperation time. Are we returning the carpet and furniture? Sorry, no refunds accepted after installation. However, we'll be happy to give you a good deal on future purchases.

Perfect quote coming fron Godzilla, "snakes, sharks, barracudas." Have some decency and go home. No one respect you and should spare TYC more embarrassment. Don't forget your croonies on the way out. Sorry, I meant to say "snakes."

PS You should contact Emily at the Dallas Morning News-she'll tell you how she found out.

d'Pope's actions are illegal and she should be criminally charged for gross fiscal mismanagement and forced to make full restitution to TYC.

Calling her a snake is far to nice for her royal shark-barracuda assets! Elmer can't protect her any longer cause she'll spill the beans to save her wrinkled trifold leather neck right before the cell door is locked. Where is the law when you need it? If they get her now, they might be able to try her with the West Texas Duo in April or June!!!!!!!

BEWARE, people. For reals. Desperation is an ugly beast. Tread carefully, those of you that are left...a mean dog is at its MOST dangerous when it's cornered and sees no escape!

Snakes, sharks and barracudas, indeed. As a badass alien-fighter once famously said, 'at least you don't seem them f*cking each other over for a lousy profit'.

I would offer this caution as well: we can all agree that Ms. Pope and her hand-selected minions have been the most direct cause of the current chaos, dispair, unsafe conditions, abuse and isolation and pretty much the horrid conditions across the board.

However, even with her demise (and that already of Mr. Humphrey and that likely of Ms. Neel along with her), all of these things will take YEARS to right themselves.

One should not expect that this ship will correct its course immediately after her/their departure. I would hate to see everyone have their hopes up so only to have them dashed when a year from now things are STILL chaotic and unsafe for youth and staff. The healing and the repair is going to take a very, very long time. Too much damage has been done, too much trust has been lost, too many really good people have left.

But that shouldn't mitigate the positive development of getting some people in charge that actually know what they are doing. That is a turn towards the light, at the very least...

@ 8:37... I heard that, but I still think we have folks on board that could serve much better than what we have. Mike Davis and Alan Walters are damn good examples. Neither have "poliet skills," which makes them perfect. They tell it like it is...

Same old bitter ass employees. Nothing was illegal about the purchases nor the process hence she was not removed. You can either be part of the solution or part of the problem. For the last year you all have been part of the problem. Time to turn my efforts toward sunsetting this agency and stripping off pieces to other state agencies. Not combine with TDCJ as you dumb asses would think. Lets see how well that goes over.

Sun Setting us is better than the current situation. Bring in another administration that knows what they're doing, or lets let that sun set on our ass. We're just wasting our tax dollars with this current administration. Let's let the sun hit you where the Good Lord split you if that means ridding ourselves of this regime.

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Why don't we just organize a walk out and say to hell with you lawmakers or CO TYC with those threats of a sunset. Take care of these little children in your own community with no funding. We could cripple the state with such a move. You know that - we know that - the communities know that. And any lawmaker with any sense of public safety would know it's not going to take more than a few more provocative missteps to make it a reality. Want to sunset? Go for it, or a hint thereof, and see what happens.

When you are 500 plus down on JCO staff, and in addition you have about half that on FMLA or some other excuse, there is a reason behind it.

I promise all of you that Jerome Parsee is not a man, much less a good one. He is a coward, a mentally ill coward. His social skills are rotten and he is paranoid and insecure, He has engaged in some outrageous behavior and had some questionable relationships(witnessed first hand). He never had sense enough to know he was being watched because he is not smart. He thought all but a few of his employees were idiots and let them know on a daily basis that They could go be successful elsewhere, and that he did not care about any of them. and not to let the door hit them in the ass. I must say he surrounded himself with ignorant people who had no grammer or social skills yet he praised their brilliance and job performance. He harped on the importance of coming to work, being on time and behaving professionally, yet his best pal, Charles Johnson, DOS, was never on time, and never came to work. He is so ignorant it is comical. "shi Dog". Charles slept with many of the women he supervised and not a word was said. He and Charles socialized after work, thinking no one was watching. Charles is more ignorant than Wanda, but they are both ruthless, unethical and stupid. Parsee made Marlin a joke. He fired or ran off some very intelligent, dedicated employees. lawyers who are currently going over documents are astounded by the grammatical errors. There are currently many lawsuits being filed, and there will be more to come. They are guilty of much more than mismanagement and all of their misdeeds wiil be exposed. Wanda King, Jerome Parsee, Charles Johnson and Melvin Haisler are not above the law. Pope, Braley and Miller are not either. They still think they can target employees and get by with it, they will discover, if they persist, how mistaken they are.

Close this agency down Governor and start over. If field staff, administrators and JCO Managers cannot correct their own facilities then this agency is finished. It is obviously TYC is still to corrupt and has to many scared employee's for them to take on the tasks of changing what needs to be completed at their facilities. As I said yesterday, the Hell with Central Office. Document managers and then do what you all have to do to change your environment, or find another job people or simply walkout.

The only only people that have a right to complain or those that got canned for past criminal histories that change their lives. For those sorry individuals that continue to making up excuses regarding your workplace rights I'll give you a nother bit of information. Since TYC change to at will, you can walk out at anytime with cause due whatever you feel is wrong or unsafe in the workplace. Otherwise known as a strike if you will. The state now cannot invoke it's unlawful strike policy since "at will" is a two way street. Smarten up people and take care of business if you want changes!!!!!

So all these expenses were justified, eh? So how do you justify buying a $600.00 office chair for Pope's office? How do you justify buying a widescreen, wall mounted HDTV? How do you justify new carpet and desks, when there was nothing wrong with the old ones?

I heard, from an inside source, that those new vehicles that were purchased were purchased because Pope herself has wrecked two of them in the past! Both accidents were her fault!

I also got wind that she made it a point to address the Dallas article in person (doesn't want to leave a papertrail) with every division at the TYC building, telling them she was not going anywhere. With that kind of confidence, it makes me wonder what powerful official she has dirt on... hmmm...

The below also looks like TYC staff ratio's. No wonder this agency is so messed up. Why don't we have Ms. POPE D' MONEY POPPER contract Lybirian women to run the agnecy since she feels us White Bitches don't know anything. "What, OH, excuse me for want I said. I didn't mean it. What I'm fired! Oh well, I heard they need white Ph.D's in Africa to help bring organization, discipline and structure to their societies. OK, I am going I know when I am not wanted. I just exposed the real problem and truth.

What truth? What documentation? Some crazy anonymous blog post by an incoherent racist? Show me a real, credible chart published by a real, credible agency or organization and then we can talk about documented truths.

You are quite correct in your statement about the legality of funds spent on redecoration. It was not illegal.

However, the legislature earmarked those funds for JCO labor costs, and EXPRESSLY denied the allocation of funds for DaPope’s paint party. This makes these expenditures inappropriate at best and is demonstrative of sub par management skills and sub par leadership skills.

I am very pleased that she spent the funds the way she did and on what she bought.Why? Because the one glorious outcome of this particular event is: the legislature has now been publicly disrespected the way TYC employees have been disrespected since her coronation. It’s great to see her display the same attitude with them that she uses towards all TYC staff.

After this event, and her attitude through out, I will give her credit for thing: She has a big pair, they are brass, and they clank when she walks! Oh, wait, maybe those are Elmer’s!

There was never a dollar amount identified. It was gross fiscal because the boykins and hernandez were on state time being paid when they had sex with them boys. They falfasied timesheets and the administration approved the time/sex when they authorized payment of state wages. Makes a lot of sense don't it

That fiscal mismanagement is really going to make sense when the two bums beat the rap. I don't believe that the two will be found guilty. I believe that this is going to be a hard case to prove. However I believe that there is a fire not just smoke in this case. If it was such a open and shut case why did it take the Ranger so long to get his case heard???

Pope's leaving or head on a platter will not fix TYC. Now it will help, but not fix all the problems that it has. Many of them caused by this adminstration,but I am not giving her credit for all of them. Why, because credit is what those usually want who are out to destroy others and only live for self service.

So this one is doing this one as the blog has reported. Well, get a grip cause it is rampid in TYC. Never seen so many people, some married some not sleeping with the higher ups. Rumors are like flies swarming the pile of shit they desire at that moment. You got sups, principals, security directors,all bedding down together and no one really cares. Its funny to me on our campus that everyone seems to sleep with who is in charge of security. Now, who really cares who they do. What matters is that we seem to have a guy now in charge that just might do some house cleaning himself and stop all this drama in TYC. If he wants to clean it up, he is going to have to dig deep and clean it up. I think its to late but I hope he is successful.

Does anyone know where Mr. Young has gone? I worked with and for Mr. Young for a long time and I can tell you that he believed in the employees of this agency. He was very good at his job and cared very deeply about his profession. However, he has a problem in his ability to recognize when there are bad people in his inner circle (i.e. Mary Wood). She was forced on him by D. Pope, who wanted him out, but needed him to train her on the ways of TYC HR. Apparently he didn’t do a very good job or she needed to know what was what so that she could undo all that he has done for the agency over the last 15 years. She ran off Lara, Diane and Reinaldo because they were loyal to him.

Call HR and ask the guy name Matthew a question and see how helpful he is. You will quickly find that he is dumb as a bag of rocks, better yet see if Mary Woods will even take your call. Remember she is the one that has made it real clear that field staff is not very bright.

As a former employee at TYC, and as someone in state government over 20 years, I can write with confidence that TYC has a long history of retaliating against employee who either grieve or who bring to the attention of management unethical practices or directed of those "protected." The employee grievance and youth complaint system has honorable intentions, but lacks true integrity. On one hand, they encourage staff and youth to use the grievance process, while on the other hand, intentionally finesse the system to better serve those in management and those "protected" or "in the in crowd." It would be interesting to conduct a statistical analysis to show what happens (or not happens) to an employee who grieves. Look at his or her lenght of stay at TYC after filing a complaint. Look at how much (if any) of a raise they get. Look at how internal proceedures once common place become prohibited or "frowned upon" from the date of filing on. When I was employed at TYC, I was always told that if one ever grieved, they could pretty much kiss their career goodbye. I never thought it would happen to me, but yes, when I grieved, and it was the first time in 20 years of state government I ever had a reason to grieve, I was retaliated against and pretty much isolated. Through prayer and support from friends and family, I was able to move professionally to a much better environment where my skill and commitment is better appreciated. Internally, I wanted to stay at TYC because I believed in their mission and purpose in serving the youth of Texas. But mentally and ethically, I was far removed from where my boss was and his bosses. My boss was as two-face a snake as they come. TYC needs to get better and needs to get better soon. My hope is that those in management strive towards a high level of ethics and integrity and professionalism. Until then, we will keep getting the level of service TYC has shown the past 2-3 years. Hopefully, this new conservator will act accordingly. Texans and the students deserve at least that much.

Case managers for TYC, are you wondering why you are denied your step increase well just ask the Pope....it is all in her office....I can't even get a file cabinet that locks so that I am in compliance with policy. If something does not happen soon the educated black woman is going to have us bankrupt.

Pope has done a lot of stupid stuff, but bringing in Mary Wood was not one of them. She has brought a level of professionalism in HR that TYC has needed for a long time, and she recognizes what a herculean task she has. Eric Young is a great guy, but under his leadership central office HR was incredibly disfunctional. Indeed, if one were looking for division heads who contributed to the Brookins disaster, he should have been first on the list. Sound HR selection procedures would have helped avoid the repeated promotion of someone like Brookins, and the promotion to central office of Chip Harrison. Not that Mary Wood is perfect, as illustrated by the hiring of Mathew Levitt. Woods is well aware of his shortcomings. But Young was a real disaster, and his removal was overdue. I ain't defending Pope though. Even a blind sow finds a few acorns, and the hiring of Woods was one of them. My sincere hope is that the new conservator will hire a new ED who has a clue about how to treat staff and build morale, but not every decision made by Pope has been bad. Just most of them. And her spiel to central office staff about there being sharks, snakes and baracudas out there, and she would find them, was truly bizarre - reminded me of something Nixon might have done in the last days of his tenure.

Some of the people who left CO HR were NEVER loyal to Eric Young. They were loyal to Karen Collins Giles. They were on their way out the door anyways since she was kicked out before Matthew and Mary Woods got there.

I know for a fact Lara got a great job for more money at another state agency near the Capitol that she couldn't pass up. Diane got an offer from the private sector. Reinaldo traded places with Matthew at TCEQ. Amy, Karen Collins Giles and Latha got better jobs a other state agencies. Barbara and Betty are chillin' at home. Half the HRAs retired or got other state jobs. That's over 10+ HR people who have left in the past 6 months. I know there are more to come.

They all left (and are leaving) because they were LOYAL to Karen, not Eric.

Watch what you say about Eric. He got what he deserved. I've watched him over the years (I wasn't in his department). He treated his people like CRAP and they worked their butts off BECAUSE OF KAREN COLLINS GILES. Karen shielded them from his WRATH and YELLING.

As for the new lady, I hardly see her, but I heard that she's got balls and turning everything around and hopefully for the best.

I quit that bunghole called TYC, and my last creditable work day was August 31, 2007. I started my new job before that and had no lapse in service record between their and my new job.

HOWEVER, I ended up paying out of network medical rates in September because TYC HR paid my health insurance until I was finally able to force them to stop on October 19th. At that point they agreed to back date the account drop to Oct 1st. I still ended up paying a lot of money out of pocket because they can't get their act together. I'm still waiting for them to send me a bill for the month of Sept. so I can flip them the bird. They paid for it and would have continued to pay for it if I had not forced them to stop so my new insurance could take effect.

I am not the only one this happened too.

This bunch of morons cost me and several others big bucks but I know they'll have the stupidity and arrogance to try and charge me.

8:45Thank you. You are correct. Mary Wood definitely does have balls and she is turning everything around for the best. The people who work in HR now are here because they want to be here and are working really hard to improve things. Between your prayers and the very long hours of HR workers, things are getting better, and will improve even more.

Wood and professionalism do not belong in the same sentence. She was given the job it is not like she earned it. All she has done since her arrival a create a wider gap between CO and the field, if that is possible.

Also don't forget that all she has done is hire her friends from TDCJ (look CO, Crockett, Evins, and your eyes on the recent HR postings). She is rude, disloyal, and just flat out a nasty bitch. She has nothing to offer. She can go to hell with Pope.

I remember when CO would help all District Offices and Halfway Houses. They had a small group of HR just to handle those employees.

Now, if I have a question about my benefits, I'm not allowed to call Pat. I have to call Gainesville. WTF???? GSS has enough employees to deal with. I want my customer service back... OR just give me a direct line to Pat.

yes you are correct payroll will mail out W-2's as they always have around the same time, so don't call HR on that....oh wait they won't even know so what the hell.......Maybe they should outsource CO-HR what do we need them for? we have the field for everything else.........I am sure it has been brought up.

d'Pope has created many new positions in CO and not in the HR department. The field has not seen any new positions. You are correct when you say they are overworking the HR departments. Halfway houses and parole offices have been assigned to institutions to handle their HR and accounting issues without giving them any new positions to help out with the increased workload and no salary increases either. Yet, central office has grown so much they've had to spend on new offices and moves to the annex. What kind of sense does this make??? It's called Dementia's Way now she's called us sharks, barracudas and snakes. I don't understand why anyone would take offense to one more insult from her royal hindness (no pun intended-NOT).

I keep hearing references to this "sharks, snakes and baracudas" comment supposedly made by our esteemed acting ED, yet when I talk to my contacts in CO, none of them heard it. (Believe me, I do not have any contacts within the Pope regime). If any of you actually heard her make those comments, please tell, when, where and in what context?

I don't know how many positions CO HR got but they did get some. They now have recruiters for JCO staff and they have a Recruiter Supervisor. I don't know what that position does. The institutions and halfway houses don't have any say in who is hired.

On the Tuesday after the Sunday Dallas Morning News article, Pope went to each division, called people together, and made basically the same speech to each division. The general effect of the speeches were -- "I came here to talk to you because I didn't want to send an email. I'm here to stay, I'm not going anywhere, I'm applying for the job, I've outlasted two conservators already. I know that alot of you are dedicated, but I know that there are some barracudas out there and I'm going to smoke 'em out."

The "find you" you comment was said a group or groups of people and did not single out a specific person.

Several of the employees felt very threatened so I would say that the statement definitely created a very hostile work environment. The problem with filing a grievance on this particular incident is that according to current policy and procedure the final decision on all grievance go to the Executive Director. This has many folks feeling like their hands are tied because they need their paychecks.

One more example of d'Pope's arrogance and ego. Amazing how she can get away with threats, gross fiscal mismanagement, lies, and incompetenance. But then these are the quals for getting promoted in the field so they can carry on her management techniques. Just look at Wallace Brown, Ayo and the countless others she has placed in positions of authority. No wonder the ill will is prevalent. Mr. Conservator, you have your work cut for you, please do the right thing!!!!

I was not among the groups to which Pope gave her little speech. But I overheard part of it. She said that her husband had informed her about the article. (Remember, she doesn't like to read the newspapers. She'd rather keep her head buried in the sand).

She said that there were people who were trying to paint TYC in a negative light (no, I think the article painted Pope in a bad light). And that the press omitted some other dollar figures that would have been more flattering toward TYC -- such as funds that were allocated toward youth. And that there were barracudas and snakes and pythons in her midst. I didn't hear the part about her "smoking them out." But I didn't hear the entire speech.

Yes, I too felt sickened by what I heard. What lack of professionalism. The silver lining was the tenor of her voice. It was one of a frightened, threatened individual who has finally seen that she is at the end of her road. Her efforts to (finally) talk to people suggest that the story really hit a nerve. She's ignored her troops for months, sent nary an email, and now she wants to chat?!

I really don't know why she didn't issue an agency-wide email to give her side of the story. Usually, when people don't put something in writing, they are ashamed of the message they are delivering. They do not want to commit a hasty and rash response to a permanent record. Either that, or the person cannot write well. I think either alternative is plausible here.

And if she actually said that she's outlasted two conservators and that she wasn't going anywhere--Damn! What hubris!

And why didn't she speak to every group? I think maybe she delivered her speech to groups she thought would be sympathetic to her. Or perhaps she wasn't worried about the opinion of some of the omitted groups. Elitism and favoritism all over again. But we've all seen that from her on other occasions.

What struck me is that she actually believes her audience was on her side. That they didn't see, with their own eyes, her extravagance and misappropriation of funds. How hard it must have been to swallow that bullshit and keep a straight face!

If all of her actions and expenditures were above-board, sound, and not ethically questionable, then she shouldn't feel threatened by their being brought to light in the press. (Remember that "transparency" notion?)

She shouldn't attempt to supress the flow of information. In fact, she should encourage watchdogs within the organization. She shouldn't threaten retaliation. Wasn't that part of the problem with the former administration (allegedly)-- that they supressed reports of abuse?

With respect to a grievance: Now, I haven't boned up on the latest policy (it changes too often), but I'm pretty sure the target of a grievance cannot also be the decisionmaker on that grievance. That's just a violation of due process. If anything, the TYC attorneys will make the decision, or will forward the grievance to the State Office of Adminstrative Hearings if those TYC attorneys are in a position of conflict.

But no, Dimitria doesn't get to be the decision authority on grievances against Dimitria. This is not a dictatorship, contrary to her opinion.

Under TYC policy a grievance concerning the executive director would be resolved by her supervisor - the conservator. Remenber that the conservator is the chief executive of TYC until such time as e is replaced by the executive commissioner, who under SB 103 is to yet be appointed. No grievance ever goes to SOAH or is decided by TYC attorneys(except those within the Office of General Counsel.

1/27/08 @ 5:56 Howard Hickman-I have a question for you. As you stated the ED doesn't get to resolve grievances against themself, why did Dwight Harris get to resolve his own grievances?When copies were sent to the Board they wanted nothing to do with it? The end result- Dwight ruled in his own favor (shocking) and never even spoke to the grievant about the issue(s).

If an ED is the highest executive, then he would be the only person that had authority for a final say because there is no one higher. Presently in TYC that person is the conservator. One can always take that decision to the courthouse.

Back to the spending. All planned construction at the institutions is now on hold while they figure out if the money is still there to carry out the tasks mandated by the legislature. Perhaps the OIG should be tasked to investigate the Pope!

I am concerned that Ms. Pope has until 2-6-08 to defend herself to the the oversight appropriations committee. What tales will she tell them -- how badly damanged the furniture was in that office? I seriously doubt that Dwight Harris was occupying an office that needed $26000 in REPAIRS!!! Her testimony in this one should be really good.

I haven't been to Central Office since the takeover, but those of us from the field used to joke about having to wear oxygen masks when entering the rarified air of the Executive wing! I was once in Dwight Harris' office and it compared favorably to the office of the General (CGFMFLANT)who commands all Marines East of the Mississippi. I cannot imagine how it needed to be improved. Old Salty

I am losing my juvenile corrections officer job of two years due to a change in eligibility requirements last spring that prohibits the hiring of those with a past felony conviction or in my case a deferred adjudication. I plainly stated on my original job application that I had been subjected to a deferred adjudication; I survived the pre-employment criminal check and the post sex scandal fingerprint and background investigation last year. Recently I had two days off then all of the sudden I had to have a security escort to go to the HR office to find out what the emergency was. I thought working for the state of Texas meant something in terms of security and such. Aren't there measures that protect the well-being of "veteran" employees affected by these types of situations? It's not right that I should lose my benefits and my sole financial source because of a policy change from last spring. I haven't been excluded from employment eligibility completely, just the direct supervision classification, but so far there has been no alternative job offering.Ms. Allen, TYC JCO III

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